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The Pardee RAND Graduate School (PRGS.edu) is the largest public policy Ph.D. program in the nation and the only program based at an independent public policy research organization—the RAND Corporation.

Communication Systems

Around 80,000 premises in the UK are located in areas without mobile phone coverage – referred to as “not-spots”. Researchers are estimating the social, economic and environmental impacts associated with eliminating mobile not-spot areas in England.

Rural areas lacking a mobile phone signal (“not-spots”) experience a negative impact on businesses of all sizes, and could suffer detrimental effects to the long-term sustainability of communities. Residents and visitors would be willing to pay for better mobile coverage.

Rural areas lacking a mobile phone signal (“not-spots”) experience a negative impact on businesses of all sizes, and could suffer detrimental effects to the long-term sustainability of communities. Residents and visitors would be willing to pay for better mobile coverage.

This study uses stated preference discrete choice experiments to quantify the value that residents and businesses in not-spot areas and local visitors and tourists to these areas are willing to pay for mobile phone coverage.

With technology a persistent theme throughout RAND's biennial Politics Aside event, it was only fitting that the proceedings closed with a conversation on social media between Michael Lynton, CEO of Sony Pictures, and Evan Spiegel, the 24-year-old co-founder and CEO of Snapchat.

Many current unmanned systems (UxSs) employ different communication systems and have limited autonomy, which limit information sharing with warfighters and other UxSs. This report identifies ways to address these limitations.

Security protections on vehicles have not kept pace with systems that control safety features, navigation capabilities, and wireless communication functions. Onboard computer networks will likely become much more attractive to hackers.

Self-driving vehicles offer the promise of significant benefits to society, but raise several policy challenges, including the need to update insurance liability regulations and privacy concerns such as who will control the data generated by this technology.

Self-driving vehicles offer the promise of significant benefits to society, but raise several policy challenges, including the need to update insurance liability regulations and privacy concerns such as who will control the data generated by this technology.

The auto industry has been moving toward more autonomous vehicles for years. Policymakers could benefit from an examination of the technological advances in this area, their benefits and risks, and the potential effects of various regulations — as well as the absence of regulation — on the development of this technology.

Predictive policing is the use of analytical techniques to prevent crime or solve past crimes. An assessment of some of the most promising technical tools and tactical approaches offers recommendations for police and developers.

Predictive policing methods fall into four general categories: methods for predicting crimes, predicting offenders, predicting perpetrators' identities, and predicting victims of crime. These methods are not equivalent to a crystal ball, but they can enhance proactive policing and improve intervention strategies.

The Army's Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) program has been getting much attention from Congress, and its future was the subject of a heated exchange between the Army's Chief of Staff General Raymond Odierno and Representative Duncan Hunter in May.

Sea Launch's recent failure means more than just a lost payload and revenue for Intelsat: It means the status quo for launch services will continue for a while longer, write Dave Baiocchi and William Welser.

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Researcher Spotlight

Associate Engineer

Elizabeth Bodine-Baron is an associate engineer at RAND specializing in complex networks and systems. Her research interests include network analysis and modeling for both domestic and national security issues. Recent work has included communication and sensor modeling for ISR applications,…

Research Programmer

Chuck Stelzner is a research programmer at RAND working on defense analysis for the Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Army, and U.S. Border Patrol, along with facility accessibility analysis in both Health and Education. His current work includes analysis of ad hoc radio network topology, flight…

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